New game from “Gunman Clive” dev resembles classic Zelda

Indie developer Bertil Hörberg, best known for the iOS, Android and 3DS action platformer Gunman Clive, has a new game on the way. Much like how his last title, a western-themed side-scroller with stylized brown-tinted backdrops, borrowed many ideas from classic Mega Man, his next work seems to be a full-out tribute to The Legend of Zelda on NES.

Hit the jump to see how much this indie 3DS title resembles the very first game in Nintendo’s storied fantasy adventure series.

Hörberg announced his new game on his Twitter account Wednesday, posting two gifs to give us a taste of what it’s all about. In the first gif, we see a sword-swinging adventurer enter a dimly-lit chamber. The name of the location: “Tomb of the First Guardian,” appears on-screen as the youth heads directly to the passage on his right. From the start, the similarities to 8-bit Zelda are more than obvious. Not only does it make use of the same overhead camera perspective, but the tomb’s stone chambers clearly resemble the architecture of Zelda’s original dungeons. Minimal detail, a simple color palette and burning torches are all shared traits.

As the screen shifts to the next room (again, much like the cell transitions of the first Zelda) the hero finds his path blocked by pits of lava. Here we see how the game differs slightly from its inspirational source. While Link’s boots stayed solidly on the ground throughout most of his solo debut, platforming across gaps seems to be an essential gameplay element here. The player even needs to time his jump at one point when faced with a moving block. Yeah, I know. Nothing we haven’t seen in almost every game out there. But at least it helps differentiate the game from classic 8-bit Zelda gameplay.

A horde of skeletal enemies confronts the hero in the next chamber. Comparisons between them and classic Stalfos are easy to make. They even flash in a distinctly Zelda way when hit by a sword slash. Like many 8-bit enemies of old, the skeletons don’t appear especially motivated to attack the player directly. Rather they seem to move in a random pattern, relying on the sheer chance that the hero will run into them. Limited artificial intelligence aside, they look like the kind of baddies you can have fun slaying in droves.

The second clip unveiled by Hörberg gives us a glimpse of the game’s overworld, which should look familiar to any fan of 8-bit Zelda. The game’s hero is shown running across green fields interspersed by trees and cliffs. All are rendered in the game’s minimalistic graphics, which resemble crayon-drawn artwork. Objects in the world appear clearly three dimensional, while still maintaining a 8-bit feel.

One distinguishable difference from The Legend of Zelda is the game’s main character. From what can be made out from the admittedly blurry details, the hero looks quite different from Link. He’s a red-headed youth, either a boy or a young man, wearing blue pants and a brown shirt. Even if he appears rather generic at first, it’s doubtful the game could have created a character as iconic as Link anyway.

Overall, Hörberg’s new game appears to be taking the same route with the classic 8-bit Zelda formula as Nintendo is taking 16-bit Zelda with A Link Between Worlds. Both are adapting retro gameplay with modern aesthetics and the technology of the 3DS in mind. Instead of limiting movement to the traditional up, down, right and left directions, 360 degree movement is now the norm in both. By borrowing just enough from modern sensibilities, and keeping true to retro roots, Hörberg and Nintendo are bridging generations with their upcoming games.

Hörberg has said via Twitter that he will focus on creating his game, which has yet to be given an official name or tentative release date, for the 3DS first before he decides on bringing the title to other platforms, like Android. Although he says he was originally anxious to see how people would react to the game’s art style, so far reception seems to be largely positive. In regards to both the hand drawn aesthetics and Zelda parallels.

Tributes to classic games, particularly those drawing on Nintendo properties, are always a welcome sight to me. It’s fun to be able to play a new game based off the time-honored titles of past generations. A more pessimistic person might accuse games like these of ripping off popular concepts. However, I’d say affection for the gameplay styles of long ago has more to do with it than a lack of creativity. They are homages to a style of game design that mainstream developers have evolved past, but can still offer tons of fun.

Are you interested in checking out Hörberg’s new game when it comes out on the Nintendo 3DS? Does its close resemblance to 8-bit Zelda intrigue you, or do you find it a little too derivative? Tell us what you think in the comments below!

Source: Twitter